Storytime
by LobsterLobster
Summary: It's a peaceful day at the prison and Michonne brings back a surprise from a supply run. This is a happy story about family bonding, Rick/Michonne, and Daryl/squirrels.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: It's a peaceful day at the prison and Michonne brings a surprise back from a supply run.

A/N: Fluff! (a happy day, in between all the terrible things that happen to our beloved characters) This story is mostly family bonding and some definite pre-ship Rick/Michonne, also featuring a special appearance of Daryl/squirrels (the only ship that is really important anyway)!

...

Storytime

"Hey, Dad?" Carl called from the next row over where he was kneeling, trowel in hand.

"What?" Rick pulled a clump of weeds out of the ground and tossed it towards his bucket.

Carl sat back on his heels, tilting his head to peek through the row of leafy tomato plants.

"We should plant some strawberries."

"Strawberries, huh?"

"Yeah. Do you remember," Carl continued, idly stabbing his trowel into the dirt, "when my second grade class went on that field trip to a farm and we picked strawberries?"

Rick smiled a little, "And all the strawberries you picked went right into your mouth? Yes, I remember."

Carl laughed, "I brought home an empty basket and Mom said…" he trailed off, his smile faltering. He hadn't meant to bring up his mom; it just sort of slipped out.

Rick was quiet for a moment, then finished Carl's story, "She said, 'Carl, those berries didn't stand a chance!'"

"Yeah," Carl said, sounding a bit subdued.

Rick wanted to reassure him, tell him that it was okay to talk about his mom, but maybe it was best to leave it at that for now. Dwelling on the past could become painful very quickly and Rick was only just beginning to feel like he might have shaken the ghosts that haunted his steps.

"Keep working. I want to finish this section before dinner," Rick instructed, adding, "I'll ask Hershal about where we could find some strawberry plants."

"Alright," Carl agreed, turning his thoughts back to the task at hand.

They worked in a comfortable silence.

"They're back!"

Rick stood up when he heard Maggie's call. She was jogging towards the gate, followed by Hershal. Sure enough, Daryl's motorcycle was pulling up to the gate, Glenn and Michonne in the pick-up truck not far behind.

Carl jumped up to see.

"They're back!" he echoed Maggie, dropping his farming tools and running along the rows of vegetables towards the gate. Rick followed behind.

"Run into any trouble?" Rick asked Daryl when he slowed his motorcycle.

"Nothing serious," Daryl replied.

"Good," Rick said, looking over to see Glenn already out of the truck, hugging Maggie. Carl was helping to close the gate.

Michonne drove the truck over to its customary parking spot near the Cell Block, flashing a smile as she passed them.

"It's your lucky day, brother!" Daryl said. He sure seemed to be in a good mood.

Rick raised an eyebrow, "How's that?"

"We're having squirrel tonight!" With that proclamation, Daryl tossed a rather large bunch of dead squirrels strung up together into Rick's arms.

"I found a whole squirrel village in the attic of this old rancher."

"I see that," Rick said, bending to pick up a squirrel that had fallen loose from the bunch. Daryl went to stow his motorcycle and the others followed behind.

…..

Carl jogged over to where Michonne was leaning against the side of the truck.

"Find anything good?" he asked his friend.

"I always find something good," she said with a smile.

"What is it? Candy bars?" Carl asked hopefully.

Michonne only shrugged and motioned to the back of the truck, "Go get the big green box. We'll take it inside."

Carl climbed into the truck bed and found the green cardboard box, the worn edges all reinforced with duct tape, but when he tried to lift it, nothing happened. The box wouldn't budge. He got behind it and pushed it to the edge.

"Did you pack bricks in this or something?" he asked, only half joking.

"No," Michonne replied simply. No further explanation was forthcoming and the box lid was closed tight with more crisscrossing duct tape.

Carl jumped down off the tailgate. He looked between the box that was much too heavy for him to lift, Michonne leaning against the side of the truck with her face titled up like she was enjoying the late afternoon sun, no help at all, and his dad who was handing off a bunch of squirrels to Carol.

"Dad, can you help me with this?"

Together, Rick and Carl heaved the box off the truck and began to shuffle towards the Cell Block.

"What is this?" Rick asked, surprised at how heavy it was. He was bent over and moved carefully so he didn't tip the whole thing over onto Carl.

"You'll see," came Michonne's non-answer. She followed along behind them. Glenn and Daryl were busy unloading the rest of the supplies they'd gathered.

"Apparently," Carl huffed, "it's a surprise."

"Where do you want it?" Rick asked once they were inside.

"Just there, in the common area is good for now," Michonne said.

Rick tried not to let on how curious he was. Michonne had a sort of mysterious air about her, but at the same time she was so self-assured and always honest and direct, like she had no idea that she was mysterious, or she didn't care. Either way, it always left Rick guessing.

Finally they set the box down with an "oof".

"_Now_ can I open it?" Carl looked up at Michonne expectantly.

"Go ahead," she nodded, looking rather pleased with herself.

Carl grabbed a loose end of duct tape and yanked, making little progress. He then pulled on the mess of duct tape with both hands, putting his foot against the box for better leverage, and managed to pull a bit off, ripping the cardboard while he was at it.

"You gonna help him?" Michonne nudged Rick with her elbow.

"Nah," Rick drawled, "I think this is something he has to do for himself."

Carl rolled his eyes. Adults always make things more difficult than they have to be. Seriously, was this much duct tape at all necessary?

After a valiant struggle, Carl opened the box the reveal a pile of books. He picked up the top book, then the next one, another thin, hardcover book with bright pictures on the front. Perplexed, he pulled out book after book. There was 'Goodnight Moon', 'The Hungry Caterpillar', a book with a glittery blue fish on the cover, and many more.

"These are all little kid books," he said, looking up at Michonne in confusion.

"I never said they were for _you_," she replied.

Carl shook his hair out of his eyes, annoyed that he seemed to have been misled. He stared at the book in his hand, something about the ABC's and zoo animals, and a realization dawned on him. A hesitant smile broke over his face.

"They're for Judith?"

Michonne nodded in affirmation.

"But she's still just a baby, she can't read yet," Carl said. His sister couldn't even talk yet.

"That's why you read to her," Michonne explained, "That's the only way she'll learn."

"Oh," Carl said, not sure how he felt about this idea. He loved his sister, but the truth was he knew next to nothing about how to handle babies.

Michonne knelt beside him and started unpacking more books out of the box, piling them on the floor.

"Don't worry," she added, "I grabbed some chapter books too. Even found a copy of the Hobbit."

Carl looked at the colorful covers thoughtfully. He supposed it made sense. After all, he was the big brother and since Judith didn't have a mom to read her bed-time stories the way Carl had when he was little, maybe he could do the job. Besides, these books were way easy and it'd probably make his dad happy; maybe he'd cut Carl some slack with all the farm work.

Suddenly Mika was at his side, squealing with joy, "Ooooh! Where did you find these?"

"Do you have to be so loud?" Carl protested, rubbing his ear, but Mika ignored him.

"Lizzie! Come here!" Mika yelled to her sister, holding up an illustrated Children's Atlas of the World, "Look at this!"

Soon the other kids were crowding around, excitedly spreading the books out all over the floor so they could see them all. Michonne decided to leave them to it. She stood up carefully and made to join Rick by the door.

"You sure made their day," Rick told her.

"The house we found had bookshelves in almost every room, so I picked my favorites. It would have been a shame to leave 'em to rot," Michonne explained it away, thinking that it felt good to see Rick smile.

It was something she got to see more of now that she'd abandoned her search for the Governor. Like Daryl said, the trail was cold and, despite the doubts that lingered in the back of her mind, she knew it was the right decision. Maybe this was where she belonged, at least for now.

"Thank you, Michonne," Rick said, holding her eyes for a long moment, "I mean it."

He gave her a soft smile before heading back outside to stow the abandoned farm tools before the sun set.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Daryl reminises on the good old days and Rick reflects on his life.

A/N: This chapter is short and sweet, featuring (as requested!) more squirrels and, of course, Richonne family cuteness! I hope you like it.

Storytime Chapter 2

It was getting late when Rick wearily pulled himself away from the picnic table. Dinner had been cleared more than an hour ago, but the heat of the day was receding and the crickets were humming almost loud enough to drown out the last few walkers on the fence. A handful of people hung around, laughing and telling stories after dinner, putting aside their worries if only for a little while.

Rick knew that Daryl hated being the center of attention, but if there was only a small group like tonight; himself, Carol, and Glenn, then his brother in arms would sometimes open up to them. Daryl was in rare form tonight, recounting in gory detail the time he and Merle had unintentionally terrorized the local community college.

After entering them both in a squirrel-hunting contest, Merle had come up with the bright idea of heading to the college campus where, he knew, the little buggers ran rampant, fearlessly hoping in and out of trashcans every couple yards.

To hear Daryl tell it, they made quite a team, Merle rolling his motorcycle slowly along the walkways, Daryl on the back with his crossbow at the ready, and their hunting dog Bo was running along beside them. As soon as Daryl targeted a squirrel, Bo was off to fetch it almost before it hit the ground, bringing it back Daryl.

It didn't take long for some terrified students to call the police but it turned out that the head of campus security was one of Merle's regular clients and he helped them slip away just in time. Altogether, the Dixon brothers bagged twenty-three squirrels for just under an hour's effort and won the first place prize of $100 cash. It was a proud moment for Daryl and he remembered those days fondly.

Rick went inside to wash up and relieve Beth from babysitting duty. He liked to spend time with Judith in the evenings, sitting in the quiet of his cell, holding her until she fell asleep, reassuring himself that she was okay, that they'd all survived another day.

The Cell Block was quiet. Rick found Beth lying on her bed writing in her journal.

"Beth, where's Judith?"

She looked up, "Carl is watching her."

"Oh," Rick was a little surprised. Carl didn't usually volunteer to watch his sister.

"Thank you, Beth. Good night," he said, walking a few cells over to Carl's room.

His son's room was empty.

"Carl?" he called, looking around. Maybe he'd brought Judith to her crib in Rick's room.

Rick pushed aside the curtain to his cell and found his bed very much occupied. A slow smile spread across his face.

Carl was sound asleep, lying beside a sleeping Michonne, her arms gently cradling baby Judith who was resting contentedly on her chest, one little hand curled around a lock of Michonne's hair. There were brightly colored picture books spread all across the bed.

Moving carefully, Rick gathered up the books, gently easing 'Goodnight Moon' out of Carl's hands, and set them on the desk.

For a second Rick wanted to lean over and kiss his son's forehead like he used to every night, before the world changed, but these days Carl was such a light sleeper. He would only wake up and protest that he was too old for that kid stuff, anyway. It was better to let them sleep.

Rick took a step backwards and slid his back down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He rubbed his hands over his tired eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. It was too rare to see his small family together, resting peacefully. He would stay here and watch over them for a while, then find somewhere else to sleep.

'Dad, I think she's one of us,' Carl had said before, when the three of them went on a run looking for weapons and Rick didn't yet trust Michonne, didn't know if he wanted her sticking around. It was those words, Rick thought, which had opened his eyes. It had been gradual, but he started to think that maybe things could change, that it might be alright to let new people in to the prison, that things might get better. He might get better.

Somehow, Michonne's friendship has helped Carl to open his heart again. Rick could see the difference every day. His son was still growing but he wasn't the same angry, cold, closed off boy that he'd become after Lori died. If he wanted Carl to hold on to the compassionate, hopeful, moral side of himself then Rick knew he had to lead by example. Hershal had showed him that.

As Rick started to doze off, he heard Hershal's words again, from that first day working in the field that became their garden, 'It could be like this all the time.'

'I could live with that,' he thought slowly, drifting off to sleep, 'keep Carl and Judith safe, keep Michonne close…'

There was no way to know what dangers tomorrow might hold, but it was like this now, and that was good enough.


End file.
